Board of Governors Re-Elects Officers

HARTFORD, May 24 - Albert B. Vertefeuille, of Lebanon, and Harry H. Penner,
Jr., of Guilford, have been re-elected to head the Board of Governors for Higher
Education, the state planning and policy-making agency for colleges and
universities in Connecticut. Both were re-elected to the two-year terms of chair
and vice-chair respectively by fellow Board members last week.

Vertefeuille, former superintendent of schools in Lebanon, has chaired the
Board since 1999, having served as its vice-chair for two years. He joined the
Board in 1995, and was re-appointed in 1999 by Speaker of the House Moira K.
Lyons.

Vertefeuille served as Lebanon school superintendent from 1992 to 1995. He
previously was a school principal and teacher in Lebanon and Union. From 1983 to
1990 he chaired the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut State Technical
Colleges (now part of the Community-Technical Colleges of Connecticut). He holds
degrees from Eastern Connecticut State University (B.S.) and the University of
Connecticut (M.A. and Sixth-Year). He currently chairs the Willimantic Mills
Development Corporation and the Capitol Theater Development Corporation and is a
corporator of Windham Community Memorial Hospital.

Penner, president and chief executive officer of the Branford-based Neurogen
Corporation, was appointed to the Board in 1998 by Governor John G. Rowland.
Prior to joining the Board, Penner chaired the Board’s Public Agenda Advisory
Council whose recommendations form the core of the Board’s systemwide planning
strategy for the next few years.

Penner also co-chairs Connecticut United for Research Excellence Inc. (CURE),
and is a board member of several public and private biotechnology companies.
From 1996-98 he chaired the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Technology
Council. He holds degrees from the University of Virginia (BA), Fordham
University (JD) and New York University (LLM).

As the state planning agency for higher education, the Board of Governors
licenses and accredits academic programs and institutions, reviews public system
budget requests and establishes systemwide policies and guidelines. Seven
members are appointed by the Governor and four by legislative leaders. In
addition to Vertefeuille and Penner, members are: James H. Bates, Lakeville;
William A. Bevacqua, Trumbull; Dorothea E. Brennan, Fairfield; Leonard S. Cohen,
West Hartford; Joan R. Kemler, West Hartford; Dorothy B. Leib, New London; Alice
V. Meyer, Easton; and Patricia McCann Vissepó, New Haven. One vacancy currently
exists.